29 September 2013

Pentti Sammallahti

Wow:

Finnish. Seems to be important. Found him on some tumblr photoblog. He does these fantastic, wide-format winter shots. Usually they're lived-in winter landscapes, not nature photography (not that there's anything wrong with nature photography). But these are photos of people getting through long winters:

Some of his stuff is too perfect-looking. Almost precious:

It's gorgeous, but it doesn't do anything for me. Compare to this:

I love this one. The two roads angling away. Bleak sky. The mass of bare trees. And then this drama unfolding, with the sprinting dog and the raven looking the other way. Also the tire tracks in the snow. This photo does a lot of things with just a few simple elements. I like his grey, almost uniform skies. There's just enough texture in them. Makes me want to try black & white this winter.